Hi all, Australia Husband & Wife looking to imigrate

Hello Expats, we are a mature age Australian couple looking to immigrate to LATAM, mainly interested in Argentina but also Chile & Paraguay, looking forward to learning from the people who know the ropes cheers.

Thanks SpaceNut, do you live in Argentina? or plan on making a move there later?

I understand, where we live now in Australia is what's called 'Semi-Arid', which translates into 'Fricken Hot Desert', so we have had enough of Heat Stressing every Summer & essentially being trapped inside because it is too hot outside for 8mths of the year, looking for some cooler temps, Bariloche or similar looks like what we are interested in.

Hi UK Man, no we have not, looking forward to that.

Quote from GlasgowJohn

Welcome to the forum steve7777

Bariloche is certainly cooler, especially at this time of the year.

We are based in Loma Verde about 60kms north of the capital - so we can't help you with Baroloche unfortunately.

The capital and the main province have hot and humid summers but otherwise decent weather. May was much colder than normal after a very wet April.

Thank you very much for the tips, we are flexible & are open to where a suitable place will be,

Quote from Splinter

Welcome steve7777

Buenos Aires has hot and humid summers, but that only lasts from about November to mid April. Patagonia is cooler and I recently motorcycled to Puerto Madryn which is a lovely town by the sea if you prefer the coast. But there's a lot of desert between towns and cities in that area, without the hustle and bustle of city life.

As GlasgowJohn has said, perhaps Bariloche would suit you because the further north you go, the hotter it gets, although Cordoba and Mendoza are beautiful.

Sounds great, i like to Motorcycle as well & look forward to new discoveries there.

Sorry i'm not sure how this forum works yet & hope my replies find the right persons -

Quote from Rice

You’re doing great on the forum, steve7777 , and welcome!

You’d be smart to spend a few months in Argentina before deciding on a permanent move. I’d suggest coming at the end of one season and staying well into another, so you can get an idea of the climate.

Clearly, most of us on the forum love this country. Let us know how we can help you as you navigate the questions about making this big decision.

Thank you for your positive view, yes we intend to aim at looking at Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay as well, really interested in gaining additional Residencies/Citizenships whilst in LATAM, & thank you for your offer to help!

Quote from serafina

Welcome on the forum, steve7777 .

Uruguay is an expensive country, not sure how much cost of living is influencing your decision.

However, Chile and Uruguay have the best banking system, and this would ease the management of your daily finances.

One of the things I hate the most of Argentina is the unreliable banking system, including basic stuff like using your foreign cards to pay for stuff. If I was retiring and looking to make my life simpler, I would rule out Argentina for that reason alone. Lots of red tape to open a bank account, impossible to do if you are a foreigner, wildly variable exchange rate when paying through "legit" channels (as in using your foreign cards to pay for local purchases, getting wires from abroad etc.)

If you are coming to visit for a few months, you can bring cash to support yourself. But if you are planning on living here full time, and do not plan on traveling regularly to your home country to withdraw cash, it can be a pain. Of course, where there is a will, there is a way. But it may force you outside of your comfort zone.

Those of us who live here full time got used to it, but not without some discomfort adaptation period. Also, those of us living here full time are married to a local, and this helped a lot to understand how things (don't) work here and finding workarounds.

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Thank you for this important info, i have the Wise, Revolut accounts & bank account in Georgia as a buffer until i get another account in the countries you have recommended, i intend to cut all banking ties with Australia & become a a non-tax resident of that country.

Quote from UK Man

As Rice suggested coming on a fact finding holiday first is the most sensible way of doing it.

How's your Spanish? English speakers are thin on the ground here. If it wasn't for my wife who speaks fluent English I personally would find it nigh on impossible to live here especially when it comes to dealing with everyday financial matters, government agencies etc.etc. They're a nightmare even for the Argentinians!!

Yes i agree definitely worth coming for a holiday before any solid decisions are made regarding living there, my wife is in the process now of learning Spanish, myself are still too busy with other matters to learn at this point, once we are free of our Australian obligations I would be interested in learning the language, btw have you seen those electronic translating devices? possibly be helpful for a newby before the language has been learnt?

Quote from UK Man

I use the missus instead!!

I get it, my wife being Khmer certainly makes the visits to the 'Kingdom of Wonder' a much more pleasant event, seen lots of places off the tourist route one would not have known about!